There are two places in the Yishan Mountains. One is called Jiulunkou - Nine Dragons Gorge, the other is Qilunkou - Seven Dragons Gorge. So, near the Nine Dragons Gorge there was a small village, and in that village lived an old woman with her only son, nicknamed Tian-tai. At the age of nine, Tian-tai already knew how to catch badgers in the mountains; at the age of twelve, he was not afraid to drag wolf cubs out of wolf holes. The young man was born handsome and stately; no one can compare with him. He has a kind face, looks cheerful, is strong, savvy, and tall. He will go early to the mountains to get firewood and return home in the evening. He climbs high mountains, descends steep cliffs, crosses turbulent rivers, and makes his way along narrow string paths.
And then one autumn, during the rainy season, it rained for several days in a row, and in Tien-tai’s house, as they say, you couldn’t find a twig or a grain of rice. We waited and waited for the rain to stop, for the rain to come, but we were tired of waiting. The young man took a rope, a yoke, grabbed an ax and went to the mountains to chop brushwood. And the young man’s ax, it must be said, was four times heavier than the usual one; the blacksmith forged it that way on purpose. Tien-tai crossed a mountain gorge, the water was seething there - thunder rumbled, he climbed the slope, washed by rainwater, walked along a thread path and finally reached a wooded place. As soon as he had time to chop some brushwood, the wind drove the rain. As soon as the rain poured down, stones began to fall down from the mountain, there was a roar and a noise all around. The young man waited until the rain stopped, climbed a tree, to the very top of his head, looked around - the entire gorge was filled with water, the rivers overflowed their banks. The young man looked in the direction where his village stood and thought: “Mother must have gone out to the gate, she’s worried, maybe a stormy stream has carried me away, she can’t wait.” The young man was so annoyed that he would fly home now, it seems! But he can’t cope with the mountain stream - he’s very fierce! The young man thought and thought and accidentally dropped the ax from his hands. Ding! — the ax fell on a large black stone. The young man wanted to pick it up and bent down. Ay-ya! The stone moved, and suddenly an old woman appeared out of nowhere. The old woman asks in a loud voice:
- Who knocked on my door? Who was knocking on my door? Who was knocking on my door?
Twice the young man did not answer, but on the third he became brave, climbed down from the tree and answered:
- I was knocking on your door!
And the old woman asks him again:
- What do you need, why did you knock?
The young man decided to tell the old woman everything as it is, and said:
“You, good woman, apparently don’t know that every day I go for brushwood, every day I go down steep cliffs, I climb high mountains, it’s hard for me, but that’s not what I’m talking about.” Today everything around me is flooded with water, how can I get home? My mother is waiting for me there, all alone. I need to sell brushwood and buy rice, otherwise I have nothing to put in the pot.
The old woman listened to him, got up from the reed mat, gave it to Tian-tai and said:
“If you sit down on this mat and think about where you want to be now, you’ll find yourself there in an instant.”
The old woman said so and disappeared. And the stone moved and returned to its original place.
Tien-tai sat down on the mat and just thought: “It would be nice to get into the air first,” when the mat slowly, smoothly began to rise up. Tien-tai wanted to go down to the ground - the mat quietly went down to the ground.
Tian-tai shouldered the yoke with brushwood, sat down on the mat and rushed home faster than the wind. Previously, it happened that he would bring brushwood only once a day, and then he would return after dark. But now he flies around and flies on a mat, and manages to turn around with brushwood four or even five times. Soon a whole pile of brushwood had accumulated at his house, and he exchanged it for grain—enough for more than one day. And then Tien-tai said to his mother:
“I grew up, mother, I became an adult, but I have never been more than a hundred years from home.” Now you have food and clothes, let me wander around the world and admire the world.
- Where, son, do you want to go?
Tien-tai thought, thought and said:
“I heard that in the capital there are a lot of different people and all sorts of miracles, so I want to go there to have a look.”
Mother says to son:
“The emperor himself lives in the capital, look, son, be careful, go quickly and come back quickly.”
Tian-tai promised his mother to do everything as she ordered, sat down on the mat and soared into the sky - neither the wind blew nor covered him with dust. Before I knew it, I found myself in the capital city. I looked down - the walls rose in rows, beautiful octagonal towers were attached to the walls, there were visible and invisible people on the streets and alleys. And in the Forbidden City, no matter how many palaces and pavilions there are, they play with all the colors and shimmer. The trees are emerald green, the pagodas turn white between the trees, the boats sway on the blue water. Tian-tai looked at all this and came down from the sky. He walked along the wide streets, marveled at various miracles that he had never seen in his life, and he wanted to get into the Forbidden City, he wanted so much that he couldn’t control himself - it’s so beautiful there! Tian-tai waited until the shops and taverns were closed and the drums beat the third watch, sat down on the magic mat and flew to the Forbidden City. And there are wondrous landscapes - once you start telling them, you won’t finish, precious treasures - you won’t be able to count them. Lotuses grow in the pond, round red lanterns are hung under the eaves, dragons are carved on the jade railings - terrible fangs, sharp claws. The walls are all decorated, not with paintings, but with drawings, not with relief, but with carvings or patterns.
Tian-tai walked quietly past the lions - the lions are taller than him, made of bronze, made his way through the tunnel - the tunnel in the artificial mountain is broken, it curls like a snake. Suddenly a young man looks: among the trees and flowers there is a palace pavilion. The roof has two slopes with green tiles, red columns, and patterned windows. Tian-tai looked around - not a soul around - and went up to the jade porch. He really wanted to get a better look at the cornice, painted with flowers and herbs, and to touch the round columns covered with varnish. And even more than that, I wanted to look inside, into the mansions and chambers. The young man admired the flowers, looked at the grass, and touched the round columns. Then he went to the carved window, quietly tore off the silk glued to the frames, looked inside - it was dark, it would be enough to poke out your eyes. Just as he wanted to move back, he suddenly heard: hua-la-la - something rustled, the whole room began to sparkle with multi-colored rays. In that room the young man saw a tower made of ivory, bamboo made of gold, and next to the bamboo a beauty. The beauty has gold bracelets on her wrists - from them golden paths run, in her hair there are silver flowers, from them silver paths diverge in all directions. There are earrings made of red precious stone in the ears, and a multi-colored cape on the shoulders. Her thin waist is cinched with a silk belt, her long skirt almost reaches her toes, and pearly tears are rolling down her rouged cheeks. I felt sorry for the Tian-tai girl. Why was she, so tender and weak, punished? Why were you locked in an empty house on a dark night? There is no can here to lie down on, no mat to sit on, no blanket to cover yourself with! While the young man was thinking, the silk belt suddenly floated in the air - the girl began to approach the young man. The young man shuddered and wanted to run away, but then a gentle girlish voice was heard:
- Wei, where are you going? Wait! I have to tell you something!
Tian-tai involuntarily stopped and heard the girl say:
“A long time ago they locked me in the palace and kept me in captivity; they didn’t allow me to see my loved one.” Morning turns to evening, summer turns to winter, but my sadness does not go away. Rescue me, good young man!
The young man could not tolerate such evil, he agreed. But the trouble is, he doesn’t know how to save the girl. There are guards and night guards on all four sides, the frames on the windows are strong, the doors are thick. The young man is silent, but does not leave.
The girl tells him:
“You just have to take out from here the picture in which the palace maiden is drawn, and I will be saved.”
The young man wanted to ask where that painting was, but suddenly steps were heard behind him, the room became dark again, and the girl disappeared. Tien-tai became alarmed, but there was nothing to do, he sat down on his mat and ascended to the sky. He looks - it will begin to get light soon. It's time to return home. As soon as the young man thought about this, the mat instantly took him home.
Tien-tai returned home, told his mother about everything, sat down on a mat and went to the Ishan Mountains. He climbed the tree, to the very top of his head, and dropped the ax on the black stone. The stone moved, moved from its place, and the young man saw that same old old woman:
The old woman asks:
- Who knocked on my door?
Tian-tai did not wait for the old woman to ask him a second time, jumped down from the tree and answered:
- I knocked on your door.
“You already received the magic mat from me.” What else do you need?
- Don’t be angry, mother sorceress! Listen to what I have to say! Everywhere in the Celestial Empire the grass is green, the flowers are red, everywhere there are destitute people, they know neither peace nor joy. Thanks to you, I don’t suffer from hunger, I got rid of back-breaking work. Think for yourself, can I leave the unfortunate girl in trouble? Tell me, maybe you know where the picture of the girl from the palace is kept?
The sorceress listened to him, stopped being angry and said tenderly:
“Your heart, young man, is kind, your speeches are fair.” Everywhere in the Celestial Empire the grass is green, flowers are blooming, everywhere people should live happily. I agree to help you, son. Now listen to what I have to say. If you want to save that girl, go to the Mengshan Mountains and find Baidixian, the immortal spirit of the White Land. Just remember: it’s not easy to find. When you see a reed three zhang high, grab it, pull harder, and you will immediately enter the gate. If an immortal sleeps, don’t wait for him to wake up, he sleeps for a hundred and twenty years every time. Scream - you won't wake up, shake - you won't wake up. You will go to the Red Sands River, you will find Mother Black Fish there, ask her for a magic needle.
The old woman said so and disappeared, and the stone moved and returned to its original place.
Tian-tai listened to the good sorceress, sat down on the mat, and rushed to Mount Menshan. And near that mountain there are seemingly invisible ridges, high peaks and deep gorges innumerable. There are no trees on the slopes, the whole earth is overgrown with flowers and grass. The steep slopes are steep and dotted with flowers, gold and silver, and a wonderful aroma spreads around. Tien-tai is walking, bent over, searching along the banks of rivers and rivulets, walking, not raising his head, prowling through groves and forests. He walked around all the mountain peaks, those peaks you couldn’t even climb, climbed all the mountain gorges, over those gorges the trees were densely intertwined, you couldn’t see the sky through them.
And finally the young man came to a sheer cliff; even the ram could not stand on it. He looks: on that steep slope a reed three zhangs high is growing. The young man grabbed it, pulled it out and at the same moment saw the road. The young man went along that road into the very depths of the mountain. He walked and walked and came to a stone house, spacious and tall. He went inside and looked: there was a can, made of stone, a stone table, and stone pillows. An immortal old man is lying on a stone canal, almost as tall as a whole zhang, with a stone pillow under his head. The old man sleeps, snores - thunder roars in the sky. Tian-tai came closer and looked: the giant’s eyes were tightly closed, apparently he was sleeping soundly. The young man took him by the hand and began to shake him. A hand, at the very least, weighs a thousand jin, and you can’t even lift it with two hands. The young man poked his finger at the immortal - his flesh was harder than stone. Tien-tai stood there, thought there was nothing to do, turned and left. He sat down on his mat and went to look for the Red Sands River.
Tien-tai is flying across the sky - a white cloud, it has flown over four rivers: one curved, another straight, a third yellow, a fourth green, another curved, another straight. It rushes over mountain rivers - the water is shallow, the foam is white. He rushes over stormy rivers, waves like fish scales move along them. Ninety-nine rivers Tian-tai flew around, flew nine hundred and ninety-nine miles a thousand times, and one morning I saw a river - the water in it is clean, transparent, if you look, you can see the bottom. The young man landed on the shore; on the shore the red sand glittered, and from it the water turned red. In the river, apparently and invisibly, black fish swim back and forth, back and forth - small boats scurry about. The young man thinks: “This is the very river that is called “Red Sands.” But how can we find Mother Black Fish here?” The young man began to walk along the shore, thought and thought, and finally came up with an idea. He went to the village to ask for a net to catch fish. People heard this and let’s dissuade him:
- Don’t look for your death, young man, don’t go catching black fish, their mother is the Black Fish herself. It’s better to let our networks rot without use.
Tian-tai heard this, and anxiety overcame him. He stood, stood, thought, thought, then took the nets and went to the river. Tian-tai stood on the magic mat, threw the nets into the river and began to slowly pull them. There are tons and tons of black fish caught in the net, they are fighting and jumping over each other. Before the young man had time to look back, the river began to boil and swirl. The wind howled: ooh, and brought down an avalanche of water on Tien-tai. The young man sees that things are bad, but then he screams:
- Fly!
Instantly the mat rose into the air. And the water swirls and also rises higher and higher. The young man grabbed the nets, held them tightly with both hands, and shouted:
- Fly, fly, whistle in the wind!
The mat rose a hundred zhangs up, and the water caught up with it; ninety-nine zhangs shot up into the air like a column. Tian-tai rose higher than the highest mountain, then the wind died down and the water entered the banks again. Tien-tai looks down, sees a black fish in a golden headdress standing on the water, not like the mother herself, raising her head and shouting:
- Hey, young man! You got the better of me! Let my kids go and ask for what you want!
As soon as the young man thought that he needed to go down to the ground, the mat had already quietly flown down, reached the top of the tree, and stopped.
The young man says to Mother Black Fish:
“I don’t need gold, I don’t need silver, it’s better give me a magic needle and tell me how to wake up the immortal from Mount Menshan with that needle.”
Mother agreed and said:
“If you want to wake up the immortal from Mount Menshan, take a needle, prick him once, and he’ll wake up in an instant.” Just first go to the upper reaches of the river, to Old Dragon Bay to visit Aunt Tuandanyan. She stole a magic needle from me today, just when the water overflowed its banks. But this problem can be helped. I’ll give you an earwig spoon, you scoop up all the water from the bay, and you’ll find the needle.
Mother Black Fish said this, pulled out a shiny white spoon from her ear, and threw it to the young man. And Tian-tai released her children - black fish - from the net. Their mother took them and went under the water with them. Tian-tai came to the village, gave it to the owner of the net, sat down on the mat and flew away. He flies and looks down at the river. And the river winds like a snake, then turns to the right, then to the left, then to the left, then to the right. Suddenly a young man looks: a low mountain appeared in front of him, all red, strewn with red stones, and on that mountain green pines grow. The beauty is such that it is impossible to describe. “So this is where the Red Sands River flows from.” The young man thought so, noticed a creek in the gorge - a green emerald, sank to the ground, stuck an earwig spoon into the water, scooped it up once - the water in the creek immediately decreased by half. Tian-tai scooped it up with a spoon again - and just look, the creek will drain it to the very bottom. And at the bottom there is nothing, only huge turtles crawling. The largest one weighs several hundred jin. She pulled her head into her shell and turned into a woman with a black face. The young man tells her:
- Quickly give back the magic needle that you stole, otherwise I will drain all the water from your pool.
The turtle looked at Tian-tai angrily, but there was nothing to do, he gave away the magic needle. The young man took the needle in his hands; it was only two fingers thick, and it was heavy - you could hardly lift it.
Tian-tai took the magic needle, sat down on the mat and flew to Mount Menshan. He flew in, grabbed a reed three zhang high, pulled it with force, and at that very moment the road opened up in front of him. He came that way to the immortal, and he, as he slept on a stone keg, still sleeps, snores - thunder rumbles in the sky. The young man pulled out a needle, lightly stabbed the immortal in the hand, and the old man turned, sat down and shouted:
- Who bit me?
The young man answers him:
“I didn’t bite you, good old man, I woke you up so that you could help me in one good deed.”
The immortal burst out laughing and said:
“No other than the old woman of Ishan told you about me.” OK! What's your business? Spit it out!
The young man answers him:
- I ask for one thing! Help me get a picture from the imperial chambers in which the palace maiden is drawn.
The immortal slammed his hand on the stone and said:
“There’s nothing fancy about it, I’ll be happy to help you, but know that I don’t complete a single task.” And now I have to go, night is coming soon. Lie down on my pillow and sleep. In your dreams you will see what I will do.
The immortal said so and how he will push the young man! Tian-tai fell onto the stone kan, dropped his head onto the stone headboard and began to snore.
The young man saw various miracles in his dream. He saw how the giant elder swayed from side to side and turned into a white cat. The cat rushed and flew to the capital city, jumped over the red wall. By that time the second guard had already been repulsed. The cat darted into the imperial chambers. The sovereign and empress sleep behind the royal canopy, embroidered with golden dragons, and the maids stand near the canopy, their legs ache, their eyes close, but they do not dare to sit down or take a nap. Meanwhile, the white cat stole the empress’s belt, trimmed with jade, quietly, without noise, as they say: neither the good spirits knew about it, nor the evil devils found out. The cat grabbed the belt in her teeth, jumped over one palace wall, jumped over another, ran away from the city, found a dry well and threw the jade belt into it. Tian-tai became alarmed, screamed and woke up. And the giant old man is already standing nearby. The young man jumped up, then the immortal yawned with all his huge mouth and said:
- Well, guy, I helped in any way I could, and now figure out what to do next, I’ll go to bed now, and you quickly go to the capital!
Tian-tai jumped off the stone kan, and the old man lay down, put his head on the stone pillow and began to snore. Snores - thunder roars in the sky.
As soon as dawn broke, Tien-tai sat down on a magic mat and flew to the capital. The sun had already risen three times when the empress deigned to get out of bed and began to comb her hair, wash herself and get dressed. He wants to put on a dress, but he can’t find a jade belt. The Empress had one less belt, and what arose here, what a noise and a cry! As they say, the sky was disturbed, the earth was moved from its place. I don’t even know how many people were equipped to look for that belt! How many people innocently suffered because of him! Wherever they looked, they could not find it. Then the sovereign issued a decree, and immediately on all the big streets, in every small alley, that decree was hung on boards. On it is written in black ink: “Whoever finds the jade belt of the empress will receive a rank if he wishes to become an official. If he demands gold and silver, he will receive gold and silver.”
Tian-tai saw the sovereign’s board, came up and tore it off. The young man was surrounded by officials who were looking after the board and taken to the emperor. Tian-tai plucked up courage and said:
“I’ve been having prophetic dreams for a long time.” Yesterday I dreamed that some man threw the empress’s jade belt into a high well outside the city.
The young man said this and led all the officials and generals beyond the city wall to a dry well. A man climbed into the well and immediately found a belt.
The emperor asks the young man:
- Are you welcome or do you want money?
Tien-tai answers him:
“I don’t need any rank or money.” I heard that there is a picture in the palace in which the palace maiden is drawn. Give it to me!
The sovereign was delighted: the painting is not a treasure, not made of gold - it is made of paper.
He immediately ordered the painting to be brought and gave it to the young man without even looking.
Tien-tai took the painting, left the city, sat down on a mat and instantly found himself at home, in his reed hut, divided into three parts. The young man unfolded the picture, and in the picture was the same girl whom he had seen that night in the palace. The young man looks at the picture and thinks about the poor girl. Suddenly the girl left the painting and sat down next to her. There are gold bracelets on the wrists, from them golden paths run, in the hair there are silver flowers, from them silver paths diverge in all directions. The girl cheered up, blushed, and became even more beautiful. She did not disdain poverty and, as if wearing gold bracelets, began to help Tian-tai’s mother cook. Soon the girl from the palace and Tian-tai got married and lived in the Yishan Mountains for the whole century.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru